Next years meat

nztimb

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Who else has domestic animals for meat?
I picked up these three a couple of days ago and was pleased to get them as 4 week old rather than the day olds I often get so already on 3 feeds a day(instead of the 6 a day for the little ones) and will cut them back to 2 over the next week by leaving the mid day feed till near mid afternoon and cutting the evening feed in half then the mid day feed is cut out all together. They are already nibbling at the grass and the lamb meal (in the trough) and as soon as I see them taking water they will be down to one feed a day and then they can go from the small pen out into the paddock with the two older ones..

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I bought 2 lambs from the a friend of mine, his boys are showing them, but they should be butchered in a couple weeks. I am sitting on about 250lbs of beef, so either need to eat more or buy a another freezer.
Yes the full freezer thing can be a worry at times but we eventually eat our way through it. This is sort of standard for us to have at least a couple of sheep then what I hunt so try to keep it well stocked.
 
I'm still eating on meat from a couple of years ago.

So next week when I head out on a muzzle loader hunt in Utah I'll be hunting antlers again.

I found that as I get older the less meat that I eat. Now 20-30 years ago I could go through a elk and a deer a year besides buying pork and beef at stores or bulk.
 
Oh yea. During the hog slaughter plant debacle I bought 50 prime hogs and still working through the last of those. We had to make a temporary hog pen and butcher 10 at a time.
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We raise a few crossbreed steers on the side;) Butcherd 5 several months back to share with family and employees. With the beef market so heavily influenced by the Angus program, we'll cut out the salt and pepper ones or ones with too much white. Ours are all 50% Holstein and the results of our lower genetic cows being bred to Angus as a more profitable option for surplus cattle we don't need as replacements.
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Oh yea. During the hog slaughter plant debacle I bought 50 prime hogs and still working through the last of those. We had to make a temporary hog pen and butcher 10 at a time.
View attachment 426598
We raise a few crossbreed steers on the side;) Butcherd 5 several months back to share with family and employees. With the beef market so heavily influenced by the Angus program, we'll cut out the salt and pepper ones or ones with too much white. Ours are all 50% Holstein and the results of our lower genetic cows being bred to Angus as a more profitable option for surplus cattle we don't need as replacements.
View attachment 426595View attachment 426597View attachment 426592View attachment 426593View attachment 426594
And I thought my Father in Law had a lot with 500 head of Angus…
 
Oh yea. During the hog slaughter plant debacle I bought 50 prime hogs and still working through the last of those. We had to make a temporary hog pen and butcher 10 at a time.

We raise a few crossbreed steers on the side;) Butcherd 5 several months back to share with family and employees. With the beef market so heavily influenced by the Angus program, we'll cut out the salt and pepper ones or ones with too much white. Ours are all 50% Holstein and the results of our lower genetic cows being bred to Angus as a more profitable option for surplus cattle we don't need as replacements.
View attachment 426595

Ok...to be clear here...I delivered that baby and I am not eating it.
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Ok...to be clear here...I delivered that baby and I am not eating it.
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Getting lambs as day olds there is a real bond that developes as we feeds them multiple times a day and they come running when I go to the paddock but when it comes time to convert from feeding them to them feeding us I have developed a way to turn off the problem thoughts and actually do the deed. Had to do it for every animal I have killed (I hate the word harvest) since I left school and started farm work in the late 60's. Hunting is one thing but to get it done with a knife is another thing entirely and I have to steel myself to get the job done so I completely understand your attachment to those little guys.
 
Getting lambs as day olds there is a real bond that developes as we feeds them multiple times a day and they come running when I go to the paddock but when it comes time to convert from feeding them to them feeding us I have developed a way to turn off the problem thoughts and actually do the deed. Had to do it for every animal I have killed (I hate the word harvest) since I left school and started farm work in the late 60's. Hunting is one thing but to get it done with a knife is another thing entirely and I have to steel myself to get the job done so I completely understand your attachment to those little guys.
Garry, yes...since I was a little kid, I was the one who always got in trouble for naming and playing with "the food". I do get attached and always have. I spent 2 days out there delivering calves and they all thought I was their mommy. I fell asleep in the nursery and was woke by a baby calf licking my cheek :LOL: there were calves laying on my lap and all around me. They sure are precious!
 
Having a basic setup to break beef from quarters to packages, I have found a system that works for me is to let a farmer/rancher raise an animal for me then when it's time to convert it to meat we have an arrangement for splitting the meat. So while I don't actually raise the animals, the freezer looks the same.
 
Interesting thread,
Do you have a knife design Rd as. "Lamb Skinner"
I have one from Green River/Russell. Problem is living in town I don't keep animals but I can occasionally get a sheep from a property.
 
Garry, yes...since I was a little kid, I was the one who always got in trouble for naming and playing with "the food". I do get attached and always have. I spent 2 days out there delivering calves and they all thought I was their mommy. I fell asleep in the nursery and was woke by a baby calf licking my cheek :LOL: there were calves laying on my lap and all around me. They sure are precious!
Even the lambs in Garry's first post would melt your heart.
I only get grown sheep so they are just food and never been domestic or pets.

Problem is I still like a Lamb Roast.
 
Interesting thread,
Do you have a knife design Rd as. "Lamb Skinner"
I have one from Green River/Russell. Problem is living in town I don't keep animals but I can occasionally get a sheep from a property.
This is my slaughtermans knife for the killing. copper and ebony
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Skinning knife with copper and giraffe bone
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Sometimes my mini skinner with buffalo horn and swamp matai.
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General purpose for the start of breaking down with acacia
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A field boning knife which I have always prefered to the swept tip professional style with ebony and acacia
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and the Nakiri slicer I made to replace the steaking knife for the dicing and slicing of the meat with copper and ebony.
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The conservancy in the midlands where we shoot has a very healthy impala population and our hosts would always request we harvest one or two for their larder . Sandy was very specific, it had to be a ram, but a really young one where the horns were still turned in. She claimed this was the best meat to eat, and on our upcoming hunt I will test the theory. A few years ago I shot a young warthog for the pot, it was good. Ok, so not domestic, but having shot a representative trophy of a species I am open to savouring the finer points.
 

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